


Flowers for Her Hair

by Romantic_Khajiit



Series: A Khajiit’s Random Skyrim One-Shots [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Childhood Friends, Engagement, F/M, Feelings Realization, Misunderstandings, Not Actually Unrequited Love, One Shot, Post-Companions Questline (Elder Scrolls), Post-Skyrim Main Quest, Short, Short One Shot, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romantic_Khajiit/pseuds/Romantic_Khajiit
Summary: A one-shot trying out that trope of an OC that the twins have known since they were kids.Vilkas finally realizes his feelings for their new Harbinger, but it might be a little too late......or, maybe it’s not...(This is fanfiction, which means the setting and most of the characters don’t belong to me.)
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Vilkas
Series: A Khajiit’s Random Skyrim One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071212
Comments: 11
Kudos: 29





	1. Blind

It was late First Seed, the weather was bitterly cold... but not quite as bitter as Vilkas's mood...

He'd just overheard his brother talking to their Harbinger... well half-overheard... without his beast blood he didn't hear things through the stone walls quite as clearly as he used to, but he'd heard enough...

They'd been discussing an amulet of Mara.

Vilkas was now sitting in his room trying to figure out how he could have been so blind all these years.

He'd never realized his brother was interested in the Harbinger...

...and he'd never realized that that would bother him...

Belle...

Belle had only been their Harbinger for about a year... but Vilkas and Farkas had known her for most of their lives.

She grew up in Whiterun... she was the daughter of a shopkeeper... she was only two years younger than Vilkas and Farkas, but somehow Vilkas had always seen her as such a child... she was small for a Nord, short and slim, but she had perfectly Nordic, thick golden hair; a fair, pink complexion, and honey-brown, gold-flecked eyes...

When they were children she would always go out to the fields to pick flowers and other ingredients for her mother's potions...

Her mother's only rule about that was that she had to stay where the guards could see her, and she couldn't go alone.

She usually took Lydia with her— Lydia was a year older, and built more like a Nord child would normally be. She was also relatively skilled with a dagger since her parents were both guards... but frequently, Vilkas and Farkas got to go... sometimes it was all four of them.

They used to pretend they were body guards and Belle and Lydia were princesses... back before Vilkas and Farkas were old enough to officially join the Companions...

As they got a little older, their game shifted (mostly at Lydia's prompting) from warriors guarding princesses to Companions fighting alongside warrior princesses, and they'd gone on several epic imaginary adventures, definitely straying far from the sight of the guards.

It got them in trouble with Belle's parents on several occasions, but Belle never minded. She was always so carefree with a smile on her face...

Belle had joined the Companions a few years after Vilkas and Farkas had been raised into the Circle. The Jarl had turned her away from joining the Whiterun Guard with Lydia because of her small stature. Vilkas had been surprised Kodlak had accepted her, but he said he could see a certain strength of spirit about her... what an understatement that had been...

They discovered she was Dragonborn a few years after that...

She'd saved Whiterun and been named Thane. She specifically requested her best friend for a housecarl, and then she and Lydia had gone off on real epic adventures and saved the world.

When they came back Belle led the Companions to victory over the Silver Hand and freed them from Hircine's curse...

Kodlak had named her his successor, which Vilkas had no complaint with... and yet when he looked at her, he still always saw little Belle...

The little shopkeepers' daughter who used to pick flowers and laugh as she skipped through the fields chasing butterflies...

Now that he thought back, Vilkas remembered when she'd first started turning heads at the Mare... when those straight-cut little girls' dresses started hanging differently on her as her figure filled out... when her mother bought her her first corset and dresses that were actually cut to fit her...

Ysmir she'd been a sight then... dancing around with red flowers in her golden hair... smiling at everyone...

He remembered when she'd started apprenticing as a blacksmith along with Adrienne under her mother... and then when she'd made her own leather armor and asked Aela to teach her...

He remembered the first time he'd seen her take down a dragon... he and Farkas had been out hunting, they'd smelled the fire and death on the air, and then Vilkas had smelled Belle... she always smelled of flowers, and, fittingly, it had been dragon-tongue in her hair that day...

The brothers had frantically run to assist her only to find she didn't need help... she and Lydia shot the beast from the sky and then Belle ran her skyforge steel sword into its eye. Seeing her completely engulfed in gold as she absorbed the dragon soul had taken Vilkas's breath away...

Then Belle had looked up at them and laughed about how lucky it was they were here, because now they had two strong men to help them carry all the scales and bones back home.

She always had some kind of flower in her hair and a smile on her face...

She was adorable... and then she was beautiful... and then she was fearsome... and then she was all three at once.

And somehow Vilkas had missed that realization until it was too late.

Vilkas had somehow not only missed the apparent developing relationship between his brother and his little Belle, but he'd been entirely blind to his own feelings...

When had it even started? Farkas used to get bored of just watching her collect things back when they were young... there had even been days Vilkas had been the only one to go with her and Farkas had stayed with Lydia and watched the guards train...

When had that changed?

It didn't make sense... Vilkas was supposed to be the one who knew his brother best, and he was supposed to be the smart one... how could he have missed that they'd been falling in love with the same woman all these years?


	2. Heard From Sovengarde

Vilkas was woken the next morning by the sound of slamming doors and a loud, happy "WHOOOOO!!!" bellowed through the whole mead hall... "SHE SAID YES!!!" he heard Farkas yelling from upstairs.

Then he heard Farkas running down the stairs and into living quarters... "SHE SAID YES," excitedly repeated several times.

Then Farkas threw open his door with a gleeful laugh. "Vilkas! Get up! We've gotta pack! We're goin' to Riften, I'm gettin' married!"

Farkas dragged Vilkas out of bed and spun him around in a bear hug.

"Ysmir's beard, brother, put me down!" Vilkas complained irritably.

"Sorry," Farkas grinned, "I just can't believe it, she said she's just been waitin' for me all these years..."

Vilkas felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach at that... he really had been blind to it all.

"I'm happy for you," Vilkas nodded with a forced smile.

Farkas obviously thought his lack of enthusiasm was because he'd just woken and clapped him heartily on the shoulder. "Get dressed!" Farkas laughed, "it's nearly lunch! We're leavin' tomorrow!"

"Aye," Vilkas agreed with another forced smile, "congratulations, brother."

"Thanks," Farkas gave him another hug before hurrying back out and across the hall to his own room to pack.

Vilkas flopped back on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a painful feeling settling in his chest. He supposed there was nothing to do now but try to get over Belle and try to be genuinely happy for them... maybe it was good that he'd only just realized his feelings now that it was too late... if she'd told Farkas she'd just been waiting for him all these years... Vilkas would have just made things awkward if he'd tried to court her and been turned down.

He was still in his room trying to come to terms with everything as he tossed some of his nicer clothes into his gear bag, when a gentle knock pulled his attention to the door.

Belle smiled her beautiful little smile up at him... there was a red mountain flower in her hair today...

"So I'm guessing you heard the news?" She smiled.

"Kind of hard to miss, I think the souls in Sovengarde heard," Vilkas replied evenly. He smiled a little too in spite of himself, Belle's beautiful face smiling into his room like that made it difficult not to smile back at her... which made him feel even worse. At least he could hide his misery as he got over her...

"Probably," she giggled, "it was cute how excited he got when I agreed."

Vilkas swallowed the lump in his throat.

"As if I'd've said no," she added with a smirk, "I've seen this coming for years, I'm glad he finally got an amulet."

Vilkas felt like he'd been kicked again... "aye," he nodded with a forced smile, "I'm glad too."

She raised an eyebrow at him at that...

"You're coming, right?" She asked hopefully, "to Riften I mean...?"

"Shouldn't someone stay here to take care of things?" He protested. He'd suddenly been struck with the realization that he didn't think he could handle watching his love marry someone else...

"Well, yeah, but I've already talked to Aela about that," she smirked, "you can't miss your own twin's wedding!"

Vilkas sighed... he recognized that smirk... the one that told him she wasn't going to be arguing over this... and she knew he couldn't tell her no... she'd been giving him that look since they were children.

"Alright, if Aela doesn't mind," he shrugged.

"Of course she doesn't, as long as we don't take too long to get back..." Belle laughed, "now hurry up and pack, Tilma's cooking a venison stew to celebrate, and I might need you to help me plan things at dinner!" She winked at him.

"Of course," Vilkas nodded with another forced smile before she disappeared back out his door.

Vilkas sat back down on the side of his bed. Ysmir, what was he going to do? Why couldn't he have just never realized he loved her? Why couldn't he have just stayed blind?

Vilkas finished packing and grudgingly dragged himself upstairs. He tried not to look too sulky as he ate dinner, but he apparently failed spectacularly at that.

He still had half his bowl of stew when Belle dropped into the bench beside him.

"You ok?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of course, never better," Vilkas lied with a forced smile.

Belle just looked at him skeptically. "Really? 'Cause I don't think I've seen you look this down since Kodlak..."

"I... was... just thinking... how much he'd have loved to see this," Vilkas shook his head and then gave Belle a sad smile.

"He would have," she nodded, "I'm sure he's celebrating over it in Sovengarde. You did say the souls in Sovengarde probably heard Farkas this morning."

"Aye," Vilkas chuckled, "I'm sure he is."

"Hey," she said suddenly, nudging him with her elbow, "I've got to go pick some flowers for tomorrow. Come with me?"

"Shouldn't you take Farkas?" Vilkas replied in surprise.

"You know how bored he gets on collection trips," she rolled her eyes, "besides, we can't have him seeing all the flowers before the wedding."

"Alright then," Vilkas sighed defeatedly, "lead the way."


	3. Flowers for Her Hair

They let themselves out through the back of the underforge and Vilkas just watched longingly as Belle skipped out into the open fields.

How had it taken him this long to realize how beautiful she was in the moonlight? The saber cat fur draped over her leather armor made her actually look like royalty as she walked through the frosty fields, her breath rising in gentle clouds of steam in the icy air.

"Now... I wanted lavender... but I think mountain flowers are the only thing we'll find this time of year... oh, blue mountain flowers will look good..." she said thoughtfully as they walked. She bent down to pick some of the blue mountain flowers looking back to Vilkas with an excited smile. "Lydia's going to let me braid flowers into her hair," she explained, "I'm figuring blue and purple will look lovely on her."

Vilkas nodded a little numbly, and not from the cold. Lydia would look lovely, but not nearly as lovely as Belle would...

"What're you planning to wear in your hair?" He asked curiously. In the back of his mind he knew he was only torturing himself, but he was going to have to see whatever she'd planned tomorrow anyway...

"Oh I'll probably just go with a single dragon-tongue if I can find one, either that a red or purple mountain flower," she shrugged, "can't look like I'm trying to out-do the bride."

Vilkas suddenly froze at that... Belle wasn't the bride? He blinked in shock at her... had he misheard or was that just his own wishful thinking?

Belle suddenly looked back at him with a cocked eyebrow...

"Vilkas," she began slowly, she looked at him curiously and took a step toward him... she smirked, "who did you think Farkas was marrying?"

Vilkas just swallowed... he was glad they didn't have beast blood anymore because then she'd certainly hear his racing heart... "well, I... I heard you two talking and..." his voice caught in his throat as Belle took another step closer, she looked amused now...

"Lydia's my best friend, so we've never acted much like it, but she _is_ still my housecarl," she smirked, "so, legally, Farkas needed my permission to marry her... _that's_ what we were talking about."

Vilkas just blinked at her as his mind ran back over the last twenty four hours... thinking back over the conversations... what Farkas and Belle had said...

...Farkas was marrying Lydia... not Belle...

"You thought it was me?" She asked with a gentle smile... and... was she looking nervous now?

"I did," Vilkas admitted quietly.

"Is... is that..." she was definitely nervous now... "why you've been so upset all day?" She whispered hopefully...

Vilkas's heart jumped...

"Aye," he nodded... then the gold chain of a necklace around her neck caught his eye...

He took a step to close the last of the distance between them and gently reached out to pull the necklace from under her cloak.

His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the ornate round pendants of the amulet of Mara around her neck...

Vilkas heard Belle's breath catch in her throat as well and she just stared up at him with wide hopeful eyes... he couldn't tell if her cheeks were so pink now because of the cold, or if she was blushing, but she absolutely adorable...

"So you weren't the one who's been waiting for Farkas all these years," he whispered as it all sank in.

"No," she replied quietly, "I... I've been waiting for someone else..."

"Well," Vilkas smirked, "what's wrong with this fool? Why's he taking so long to ask such an amazing woman?"

"No idea, but at least a few minutes ago, he apparently thought I was marrying his brother," she replied with a smile and a nervous giggle.

"Belle," Vilkas sighed as he reached forward to pull her into an embrace. She was quick to hug him back and Vilkas felt like everything had suddenly gone right in the world. "Please forgive me," he whispered, "for being so blind to what an amazing woman you've become... I would count myself the luckiest man in the world if I could stand by your side until the divines take us."

She pulled back from his embrace just enough to look up into his eyes, with the happiest smile he'd ever seen on her lovely face. Then she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Vilkas tightened his arm around her waist to pull her closer, and kissed her back. By Ysmir, this felt like perfection... how had he only just now realized how much he loved her?

They were interrupted moments later by the sound of Farkas cheering excitedly from over the wall behind Jorrvaskr. "WHOOO! YEAH!! DOUBLE WEDDING!!!"

Lydia was laughing behind him, "I told you not to worry..."

Vilkas sighed and smiled down at the beautiful woman in his arms... his little Belle. "Shall we get married along with my brother and your best friend?" He asked hopefully.

"I was hoping we could," she smiled.

"Aye," Vilkas grinned. "Now let's get you some more flowers for your hair..."


End file.
